The Shades Of Life
by darkmuse
Summary: Harry finds out that he's the Heir of Slytherin. Wierd things happen to him. This is set after Book Five.
1. The Big Surprise

Key: **** = Harry's POV /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ = Draco's POV --------- = Hermione's POV / / / / / / / / / = Snape's POV  
  
Part One: The Big Surprise  
  
You wait by the window  
  
Morning's breath on the sill  
  
Idle hands given another try  
So you wait and savour the moment  
Outside the canvas turned white  
Ruby eyes in the fog  
  
**** "Today, class, we will be learning to make a potion that will write your family tree for you, regardless of any obliviations, adoptions, deaths, and other natural disasters. This is not a particularly challenging potion, but nor is it a very easy one. Even Mr. Longbottom's abysmal potion brewing skills may be up to this potion, but just to be careful, I will decide on the pairings." Snape stood at the front of the class. I was excited, to no end. No one alive except Dumbledore could tell me about my grandparents, and even he couldn't tell me about anyone older than my great- grandparents. I was hungry for details about my family, and no one could help me with it. "So, class," Professor Snape went on with the lesson, "Remember, this potion uses your blood, which is your magical signature and your family tree. Be careful when you cut yourself for the potion, only make a mall nick at the end of one of your fingers, and have your partner heal it right away. Granger and Potter, front seat. Behind them, Weasley and Brown. To Potter's right, Patil and..." I tuned the rest of the list out, safe from anyone who wanted to do me in.  
  
I got up and changed seats, sitting next to Hermione. I rather liked making potions, without Snape breathing down my neck and criticizing my every move. I got into the rhythm that nearly six and a half years of practice making potions had created in me. The potion turned out to be rather easy, and the dank walls of the chilly dungeon floated away in my mind as I talked to Hermione and Ron, conversing and laughing over our cauldrons, something like an imagined muggle tale of evil cakling witches. Only not so evil. Considering that I was the "perfect" boy-who-lived, along with my two Gryffindor best friends, there wasn't much I could do that would be called evil.  
  
Finally, the potion was done. Just as we finished, pouring the blood-red potion into glass vials the size of large goblets, Snape strode back into the classroom. He instructed us to nick our fingers, and pour three drops of our own blood into the vials. After that, we took out our largest sheets of parchment, and poured the blood-ink potion in the center of the paper.  
  
Spindly, deep red lines reached out of my blotch, to the edge of the paper. Suddenly, there was an intricate deep green border of snakes, with silent hissing tongues and silver eyes. "Harry, your paper looks very... Slytherin," Ron commented. I turned back to look at Ron's paper. His had a border of red and gold lines, intertwined with each other in a Celtic pattern.  
  
"Is your family Celtic? 'Cause I can tell that you're Gryffindors, the lot of you." I thought Ron's paper was beautiful. Turning back to mine, I saw that my name was written on the bottom, along with my mother's. No, that said Lily Slytherin (Evans-Potter). What was going on? And next to her name, was Narcissa Slytherin (Black-Malfoy. What was happening? I wasn't related to the Malfoys! And my mother was older than Narcissa by only one minute? They were twins! Hermione looked over to my paper and was astonished. So was Ron. So I turned away from mine and looked back to Ron's. No one had kept any familial secrets from him, and his went much faster than both Hermionie's and mine.  
  
Ron's family descended from the Celts, and he was a descendant of one of the first wizards in English history, a pureblood Gryffindor family tree through and through.  
  
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\  
  
I flipped my long blond hair out of my eyes and tried to see the trees of the Golden Trio. Of course, they were all covering theirs. No surprise there, they had become used to my pranks, and were careful with all potential blackmail material. Hmph. They were learning. That was bad for me. But it is no matter. I could go after more worthy quarry in the form of Pansy Parkinson, dumb bitch that she is. I know that we are not betrothed, even if she does not. It serves me well to have her think that she will have to marry me.  
  
I looked down at my paper. Mine had a border of snakes and daggers. At the bottom it said Draco Malfoy. Above my name, was Lucius Malfoy, connected to Narcissa Malfoy. Everything was going as expected. But then, next to Narcissa Malfoy, lines kept writing, and on the paper, in black ink, it wrote (Black-Slytherin). I couldn't figure out what was going on. Then, I found out that I was in for an even bigger surprise.  
  
Next to my mother's name, the ink drew a connecting line above the top, and it wrote Lily Potter (Evans-Slytherin). Lily Potter. Harry Potter's Mother! That meant that we were cousins. Of all of the bad things to happen to me, this may very well have been one of the worst.  
  
--------  
  
I watched my bloodlines unfold before me, and I saw nothing that I expected. I had read up on this potion before the lesson, and I knew that the style of writing of each name indicated different things. Italic writing showed a witch or wizard, regular writing indicated a Squib, and bold writing meant Muggles. And my parents' names were in regular writing. And then Grams and Gramps, and Granny and Grandpa, their names were in regular writing, too. And Grams and Gramps, my dad's parents, their parents were wizards! And theirs before them! Granny and Grandpa, all of their family was squibs. And Grandpa's father was the cousin of Grindlewald's father, in addition to being the first squib of my line. So that meant I was related to Grindelwald. Oooh, Dumbledore wasn't going to like this. Plus, my border was rather gruesome- bloody swords crossed. Hm. Pleasant.  
  
/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / /  
  
I watched the class see their family trees revealed, and I was glad that I had used the potion first, and posted the bottom half of mine on the board, so they could see what they were supposed to look like. Mine had a border that changed depending on how far down into the tree you were. The top was resplendent in red and gold. And the bottom was green and black, trees cauldrons and snakes. Interesting combination. Of course, Dumbledore had known already that I was the last descendant of Godric Gryffindor's line, a fact that had been hidden to me since earlier this very day. How ironic. And how very typical.  
  
I looked up to see young Malfoy, know-it-all Granger, and heroic, stupid, amazing Potter stiffen and look around at each other. I had to take action before something happened. "Potter. Granger. Malfoy. My office. With the family trees. Now!" I barked at them, and disappeared into the old, dark wooden portal behind my desk. The little brats scuttled in behind me. I was seated at my beautiful carved wooden desk. It had come from my manor home, and it belonged to my father and his father and so on into times unremembered. "Put your family trees down facing yourselves on the desk. They should be completed by now," I told the kids. I put my tree down next to theirs. Malfoy and I both had borders that were derivatives of the Slytherin crest. And Potter's? It was the Slytherin crest.  
  
****  
  
I saw a family crest at the top of each page. Malfoy's and Snape's were, of course, their ancestral family crests. No surprise there. What was the surprise, however, was that both my sheet and Hermione's had family crests, too. I took a closer look at Hermione's and found that she was actually a pureblood wizard, and related to Grindelwald, of all people. In fact, her family seemed to have a history of very Dark wizards. Seems that the borders do mean something.  
  
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\  
  
I turned to take a closer look at Potter's paper. His snakes? They were gorgeous. Worthy of a Slytherin, to say the very least. Then I looked closer at his tree. At the top of the list of names was none but Salazar Slytherin, all alone in the head of the family. I took a close look at Potter, sitting in a cushioned seat with his eyes closed. He seemed to be having a hard time taking in the information. The lucky asshole didn't know how lucky he was. And then I realized that he could probably process being the Heir of Slytherin, but he was having a harder time about being my cousin. I didn't want to think about that at the moment. So I turned to Granger's tree.  
  
Her border was made up of properly bloody crossed swords, elegant but sharp and deadly looking. I was scared to touch them, they looked so real. Granger apparently came from a family of properly Dark wizards. In fact, practically every Dark Lord before Voldemort had come from her bloodline. I looked at her with a newfound respect. She would grow up to be very powerful, if her blood got any say in it.  
  
Professor Snape, on the other hand, didn't show his complete family tree, only something near the last five generations. I saw that the dark-colored jeweled swords at the bottom started to lighten in color further up, and I wondered what was further up on that sheet of paper. Obviously, he wasn't going to tell us. He was always a secretive man, according to Lucius. But I'm not talking to him anymore. Not since he kicked the bucket in a Ministry raid on the Riddle Manor.  
  
****  
  
I was related to Malfoy. I was related to Malfoy. Not that I had that much against him anymore, but what the hell was Ron going to say? And Hermione came from a family line that included numerous very, very dark wizards. And everyone in this office was a pureblood. How could my world be turned upside down by a few names on a paper? And when did my name change on the sheet to Harry Slytherin, Heir Apparent of House Slytherin?  
  
/ / / / / / / / / / /  
  
The boy was the Heir of Slytherin. How ironic, that I was descended of Gryffindor and he truly belonged to Slytherin? I hope that he knew that he would be switched to the Slytherin house for the remaining duration of his education here. Poor bugger. He would be dead in days. "I am going to take you three to see Dumbledore at the end of this class. I trust you won't mind missing the beginning of lunch?" I asked in a tone that was not a question, but an orcer. The three teenagers nodded, and I went on, "I am going to keep your family trees in my office until that time. You tree will not talk about this to your friends, do you understand?"  
  
All three of them nodded mutely, again. "Good. Go back to your seats, and stay there while I dismiss the class."  
  
--------------  
  
The three of walked through the door in the back of the classroom and to out seats. Ron asked, rather loudly (he was never good at whispering), "What did he do to you guys?"  
  
I turned around quietly in my seat and whispered back to him, "Snape wanted to see us. Harry, Malfoy and I have to stay after class. Meet us in the common room after lunch, okay?" Ron nodded back at me and I knew he would do what I asked.  
  
Snape cleared his voice quietly and barked (did he ever do anything else?) at the class, "Class is dismissed. Potter, Granger and Malfoy, stay afterwards. The rest of you, leave."  
  
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\  
  
I sat in my seat quietly as the rest of the class left. I had already reassured Pansy that I wouldn't need her help, and that she should go to the common room to wait for me. On the other end of the classroom, Potter lazed in his chair, while the Granger girl sat primly as McGonagall does in her own classroom. Snape paced in front of his board. I simply sat and waited.  
  
Finally, the dark dungeon room emptied of all other students. Snape disappeared into his office, reappearing in a short moment with four scrolls in his hands. He motioned at us to take our book-bags and follow him. Instead of walking to Dumbledore's office, he Flooed there. I went through the fireplace next, followed by Granger. Potter staggered out of the fireplace last, muttering something along the lines of "bloody Floo network out to get me again."  
  
I made myself comfortable in one of the armchairs sitting in front of the large desk. I had only been in this office once before, after my father died, and so the various whirligigs and gizmos on the shelves around the room fascinated me. Dumbledore's large, gorgeous phoenix flew to Snape's shoulder, while a four-foot long green and silver snake slithered out of nowhere and up to coil around Potter's neck and arms. He sat in another armchair and closed his eyes, hissing softly to the snake, asking names and whatnot, I presume. Granger sat on a wooden chair, and Snape transfigured himself an armchair.  
  
/ / / / / / / /  
  
I sat down and made myself comfortable, watching the two girls and the boy. For some reason, Dumbledore liked to keep people waiting in his office. I suppose he liked to make an entrance. No matter.  
  
The old man came in, and seated himself behind his desk. He folded his aged, wrinkled hands on the desk, in front of his utterly repulsive purple robes, featuring orange polka dots. I sat in my chair, absentmindedly petting Fawkes, and waited for him to speak.  
  
****  
  
I spoke to the snake. Her name was Sylvia. She said she would keep me company, for a while. And then Dumbledore came in and sat at his desk. Snape handed him our scrolls. I sat back and closed my eyes, waiting for Dumbledore to speak. I heard Hermione's quick breathing. I heard Malfoy shifting and Fawkes singing very, very quietly. I heard Dumbledore shuffle the parchment, and I opened my eyes. Dumbledore stiffened visibly as he saw the contents of the scrolls. I wondered what was going through his head as he began to speak.  
  
"Harry, you are the Heir Apparent of Slytherin." I nodded. "This means that you will have to move to Slytherin, at least to sleep there. It wouldn't do not to honor old Salazar. There are actually a few portraits of him in the castle, if you would like to meet him." I nodded again. "Ms. Granger, I hope that you grow up to be as powerful as some of your family has been. It would do you well in the rest of your life. Mr. Malfoy, will you please contact your mother by Floo and ask her to come to my office? It would be greatly appreciated if she could be here immediately." Malfoy got up and went to the fireplace, and Dumbledore pointed at the Floo powder.  
  
I really didn't want to move to Slytherin. I was a Gryffindor, my life was in Gryffindor, as were my friends. Crabbe and Goyle might jump me in the middle of the night or something. Just because I was gay didn't mean I wanted to get raped. My life takes some suprising turns sometimes, but this definetly topped the list.  
  
/ / / / / / / / / /  
  
I sat quietly as Dumbledore made the arrangements for Harry's move to Slytherin. All of the boy's classes would remain the same, and he would be allowed in the common rooms of both Houses. Dobby would move all of his things to the second bed in Draco?s dormitory room. And, the worst of it, he would come to me for guidance instead of going to McGonagall. I didn't know how I would take it.  
  
Draco would guide him to the Slytherin common room and tell him the password. Dumbledore would now go to the Great Hall, but he would wait to announce Potter's change until dinner. Later, I would go to my House's common room and threaten dire punishments on anyone who dared hurt the Potter boy.  
  
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\  
  
Just as they worked out the last details of Harry's move, my mother gracefully stepped out of the fireplace. Dumbledore spoke up first, "Ah, Narcissa, just the person I wanted to see. Would you be willing to take Harry to your house over the Easter and summer holidays? We have just found out that you and Draco are his closest living relatives, and that you three all carry the Slytherin bloodline. But Harry is the Heir." And he was coming to live in my house for the holidays. They started in one week! I would have to make amends with him for the past six years. I have to live with him now. But that didn't mean i couldn't play a prank or two on him now and again and call it sibling rivalry, of a sort.  
  
--------  
  
I guess Malfoy was okay with the arrangements. He hadn't bothered us so much, but he was more subdued towards everyone since his father died. Harry leaned closer to me and whispered, "I'll see you later. I'm off to the Slytherin house while the school is still at lunch. I don't want to face them quite yet."  
  
****  
  
I followed Malfoy down intricate passageways into the dungeons. "Does the room have windows?" I asked him.  
  
Malfoy stood still and turned around, "yes, there are magical windows that look outside. You can change their views, if you so wish. The ceiling, too, is majicked to show the sky outside, similar to the spell in the Great Hall. Now, I expect you to stay on your side of the room. If you touch my things, I will have to hurt you. Badly. And you know what kind of family I came from, Potter. I know the Dark Arts," he growled.  
  
I sat down on my bed, drawing the deep green curtains close around me, and surrendered myself to the oblivion of sleep.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~ The song lyrics at the top of the page belong to the metal band Opeth. Great band, go listen to them! 


	2. Breaking The News

Part Two: Breaking The News  
  
---------  
  
I didn't know how I was going to break the news to Ron. He wasn't going to like it. Not one bit. Ron was virulently anti-Slytherin. His hate for the other house was notorious. Harry and I didn't mind them so much, but we avoided the house, because our year was full of people like Malfoy, Parkinson, Crabbe and Goyle. Mindless thugs and muggleborn-haters aren't my favorite sorts of people.  
  
I walked into the Gryffindor common room, and the rest of my year ambushed me. Plying me for news, asking what had happened. I matter-of-factly informed them that I had to tell Ron first, and we were going into the boy's dorm, and if they tried to eavesdrop, they would have Snape, Dumbledore, and me to answer to. That shut them up, and they settled down into their seats in the common room as I dragged Ron up the stairs.  
  
"What's this all about?" asked Ron as we walked into the room. "And where did all of Harry's things go?"  
  
"That's what I have to tell you about. And it's a long story, and you'll hate it. You'd better sit down. Now," I ordered, "and don't interrupt my story. If you say one word while I'm telling this, I'll have to tie you to the chair. In fact, I think I'll tie you to the chair now, just in case." Ron looked worried. I muttered a few quiet spells, and Ron was tied to the chair, and unable to open his mouth. "Don't worry. I wouldn't leave you here. Now let me tell you this story.  
  
"Snape called us into his office, and made us bring our trees. Now, we looked them over. To make a long story short, Malfoy and his mother are Harry's closest blood relatives. He's not really related to the Dursleys. The Potter Family is, of course, pureblood through and through. The more surprising thing is Harry's mother's family. She was really a pureblood witch, put with Muggles for safekeeping, in much the same way Harry was, except that everyone who knew was obliviated. Lily's sister was Narcissa Malfoy. And they were actually of the Slytherin Family." Ron looked incredulous. "As to where Harry and his things are, they've been moved to the Slytherin dorms, when a portrait of Salazar Slytherin insisted and Dumbledore agreed with him." I cast heavy silencing spells around the room and unbound Ron before exiting the room and locking it from the outside. I walked down to the common room.  
  
"Now guys, I've locked Ron into the boy's dorm until he's worked his anger out. I've also put some spells on him that will let me know when he's done raging and is ready to come out. As to what happened with Harry, I think you'll have to fid out later. He will need to tell you this himself."  
  
****  
  
I opened my eyes into darkness, and I realized I was in my bed in the Slytherin dormitories, and I groaned to myself. I wondered just how stupid I could get as I got to my feet, outside of the bed. The ceiling was dark and starry, with a moon on the western side of the "sky". I put charms on all of my things that would repel anyone that I didn't invite to touch them. Trunk, bed, clothes, shoes, the odd knickknack the house elves had put on top of my trunk to make it seem more homey. Then I transfigured the blankets inside of my curtains into a neutral tan color. I figured that red wasn't welcome in these dorms anyway.  
  
Then I put up wards on my whole side of the room, not allowing anyone in unless I invited them. Then, I curled up on my bed, and fell back into restless sleep.  
  
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\  
  
I watched Potter sleep for a while, wondering how he was taking the sudden changes. I decided I could give him some respite from my tongue, at least until he got himself together a bit again. I almost felt bad for him. His friend the Weasel wasn't going to like this. Granger, however, might stand by him. She always seemed to be the better Gryffindor of the pair.  
  
------------  
  
Harry walked into the Great Hall looking pale and drawn as he sat down beside me, not looking at Ron on my other side. I don't think that he knew how Ron was taking it. I hoped, I prayed that Ron wouldn't start screaming at Harry. I should have know that all of my wishes were futile.  
  
"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING, HARRY? YOU LET THEM MOVE YOU TO BLOODY SLYTHERIN!" he screamed in Harry's face, "I THOUGHT YOU WERE A BETTER GRYFFIDOR THAN THAT." Then, his voice got deadly, menacingly quiet, and it was somehow worse than the yelling. "I thought you cared about us more than that. I thought you were more loyal. I thought you were my best friend. I thought that you were a iGryffindor/i. I guess not." And he stalked away.  
  
Harry got up and ran out of the Hall, down towards the dungeons.  
  
****  
  
How could he do that? How the bloody hell could he do that? I ran down intricate pathways, the halls a blur in front of me, turning into progressively smaller side passageways, trying to make sure that no one would find me. Didn't Ron realize that if there was any time I needed him, it was now? I couldn't deal with that.  
  
I finally found a dark corner I could stay in. I slid down the wall, and slumped over, head on my knees. Silent sobs wracked my body. Grieving quietly for the loss of my first friend that was my age, I didn't know what to do. Until I saw Snape standing in front of me, regarding me quietly, lacking a kind of aura of malice and anger that the man usually carried like an awful burden.  
  
/ / / / / / / / / / / / /  
  
The boy noticed me standing across the hall from him, and his body slowly stopped shaking. As soon as he looked me in the eyes, I spoke, without anger or hatred in my voice, "you managed to stumble on the corridor that has my private lab and office. Would you please come into my office?" I opened a door behind me and held it open for Potter to walk in. "Well?" I asked, "Aren't you coming in?"  
  
The boy- no, Potter, dragged himself off of the ground and slouched into my office. I gestured at an armchair placed in front of the desk, and took the seat behind the desk for myself. "What happened back in the Great Hall?" I asked, as gently as you could expect from me.  
  
"Ron can't accept it. He doesn't get that I had no say in any of this. He thinks that I was switched willingly, that I asked for it," Potter deadpanned, "He doesn't understand that I need him more now than I ever have before, that I have no friends in my own House, and that I'm more likely to be killed by one of my own Housemates than I am to be killed by old Voldie." The boy dissolved into sobs again.  
  
I reached over the desk and patted his arm softly. "I promise you, Harry, that you will not be killed in this school while you are under my protection. You know that I have protected you since you came to this school. That will not change, until you do not need my protection any longer."  
  
He looked surprised, and then he sniffled, and said, "I know. I'd be dead now, if it wasn't for you. And I thank you for that. But since when did you call me Harry?"  
  
"Since I decided that you needed reassurance from your own house, and since you will have to wait a while for it from your yearmates, you can get it from me first. As long as we are in these offices, you can call me Severus. Just don't tell anyone else." God help me, I was befriending him. Albus was right, it's hard to be so mean to the boy in private, he seems to feel everything so deeply and profoundly.  
  
****  
  
Snape- no, Severus, was actually being nice to me. I decided to take advantage of the strange offer, and just go with it. "Thank you. Severus," I replied, "would you mind just talking to me for a while? I need to get all of this angst out of my system."  
  
He nodded, and replied, "I will talk to you, as long as you don't mind doing the talking in my lab. I am in the middle of a potions experiment." Severus got up from his seat and walked towards a door set into the side wall. I followed.  
  
"Can I help you with anything?" I asked as we walked through the ancient portal, "I'd like something to do with my hands, also."  
  
"Yes, I have some things laid out that you can cut up, if you don't mind. It'd make my life far easier."  
  
"Thanks."  
  
"So tell me, do you think that you're going to be able to make it up with your friend the young Weasley?" Severus asked me.  
  
I nodded. "I think, if I give him time and space, he'll come around. I'm just hoping I can stay alive that long."  
  
/ / / / / / / / / / /  
  
I was amazed at the casualness that Harry used when speaking about his own death. But I supposed that he was used to it by now, dodging death at every turn his short life takes. I wondered if he knew how much that wears on you, after a while. I am, in fact, only seventeen years older than he is.  
  
"Don't worry about it, Harry. Any time you need someone to talk to, just seek me out. But please do try to keep it quiet. I have a reputation to maintain in Voldie's, as you so ridiculously call him, inner circle."  
  
"Yes, sir. And thank you. For everything. And for letting me help with your potion." I looked down and saw that he had cut up all of his ingredients perfectly.  
  
"Your cutting looks very good. Why don't I ever see this in class?" He blushed.  
  
"Oh, yeah, that. I've always been good at potions. Something of the legacy of old Salazar. That and the looks and the Parseltounge, I suppose. I've always kept it hidden, when I saw that all of the Gryffindors were so bad at it." The boy seemed to have a survival instinct like that of my Slytherins. And then I remembered that Harry was more Slytherin than any of them.  
  
"So why did you let me walk all over you like I did about your abysmal potions for years the way I did?" He simply shook his head. "Well, then, go over to that cauldron in the corner, and show me that you can make a.. Dreamless Sleep potion. The recipe is in the big red book on the middle shelf over there," I pointed at a bookshelf behind me. Harry just walked over to the supply shelves and started taking out ingredients.  
  
****  
  
I started making the potion, not bothering to read a recipe, but instead allowing my instincts to guide me. I cut and chopped, added and stirred, and felt Severus' intense stare on me the whole time. The entire affair made me feel surprisingly less self-conscious than it should have.  
  
/ / / / / / / / /  
  
I watched Harry make the potion as proficiently as I would have. He didn't look at a recipe. And he moved like a dancer, and his hands were so graceful. He had long-fingered, elegant hands. I suppose he inherited those from his mother. And I kept staring at him, my potion simmering as it would for the next three days.  
  
****  
  
I finished the potion and poured it into the vials. I knew I had done a good job on this particular potion. In fact, I had added a few ingredients that would make it stronger.  
  
I got up from my seat and brought the smallest vial over to Severus. I handed it to him and asked, "What do you think?"  
  
He opened the vial and sniffed the potion, and then took a tiny drop onto his finger and put it into his mouth. He rolled it around his tongue like one would a fine wine, and then spit it out into a stone basin behind him. "Although your potion is perfect and actually tastes decently, I would prefer to remain awake while we are in my lab."  
  
My potion was perfect!!! "Severus, I believe that is the first compliment you have ever given me in my entire school career."  
  
He nodded. "Yes. But you really are good at potions."  
  
It was only then that I realized how happy his compliments made me. 


	3. Soul Stealing, Soul Selling

A/N: I've borrowed a bit in this chapter and the few following from the book Lord of the Dead by Tom Holland, which is an absolutely amazing book about Lord Byron, the poet. Go read it! I know they have at least a few copies in the NYPL system, so if you live in NY, it'll be easy to get. Also, I was feeling very, very descriptive and verbose when I was writing this, so pardon me if it's a bit much.  
  
Part Three: Soul-Stealing, Soul-Selling  
  
The poetry  
That comes from the squaring off between  
And the circling is worth it  
Finding beauty in the dissonance  
  
**Harry**  
  
I walked reluctantly back to my new dorm, feet dragging and head hanging. I let my feet lead me in the ways that my head didn't know how to take me. Suddenly, I found myself at the common room entrance. I said the password quietly, and walked through, into a full common room.  
  
All of the heads turned to me, and I cringed and ran into my dorm room. I sat on my bed and closed the curtains tightly around me. Off of the pile next to my bed, I picked up the little birthday cards my friends had sent me. *happy seventeenth birthday*. This year wasn't turning out as well as I had hoped it would.  
  
I looked at my watch, and it said halfway to lunchtime. I decided I would take a bit of a nap and then go to my afternoon classes. No one could blame me for missing a few classes. People would probably wonder that I hadn't missed more.  
  
I sat up from my bed, and realized that I wasn't on my bed in the Slytherin dorms, but I was lying on a grassy field, looking down the side of a mountain. As I looked to my right, I saw a path leading to the stars, and a tall, tall, pale man was suddenly standing in front of me, offering a hand to help me up.  
  
I got up without his help, and he walked off, motioning that I was to follow him. I walked along behind him, as he turned and walked effortlessly up the path that went into the air, into the stars. I envied the man his grace and beauty.  
  
I started walking up the tightly corkscrewed path, and found that it was much harder to walk up than it had looked. Each step was an agony, and it was a heartwrenching trial to lift each foot off of the tiled floor and forwards. The compelling man that I was following paused every few paces, waiting for me to catch up.  
  
After climbing for what seemed an eternity, I looked to my next step, and found it was solid ground again. This wasn't the path to the stars, then. I would have to wait until later to find that particular path. For now, I was still following the man, now up a mountain, now past a lake, now a field, now a forest, now a flowerbed. I sensed that I was going very quickly, and yet each pace took forever.  
  
When we finally reached what seemed to be our destination, I found myself in an ancient garden, full of sculptures of strange beings and odd animals. I wondered what place I had found myself in, as my subconscious obviously wasn't making this up for me. I sat down on a carved stone bench that had quietly appeared behind me.  
  
As suddenly as he had the last time, the tall man appeared in front of me again, and motioned for me to take his hand. I held it, and it was surprisingly cool, and the color of moonbeams and starlight. As I touched his hand, we were not in the garden any longer. We were in a beautiful hall, long table down the center, with glass windows and woven tapestries of utterly alien scenes on the walls. The floor was of flagstones, various colors all intermixed. The walls were a dark wood, almost black in the twilight. Tall windows adorned three walls, moonlight flowing in, making shadows flicker in the semidarkness.  
  
I sat at the seat to the right of the head seat. My leader took the one of the two seats at the head of the table. A beautiful lady sat at the man's left hand, and across from me, Severus sat down, to his lady's left hand. Our guides held each other's hand, and I perceived that they were bonded as husband and wife. They looked into each other's eyes and slowly nodded.  
  
Other men and women had been filtering into the room, and some were pale as starshine, like my guide, and others glowed in the moonlight with healthy golden radiance. One by one, all of the seats in the hall were taken. Our guides stood up, hands still intertwined. Pairs of the people seated around the table stood up, hands clasped and raised in a silent answer to their leader's gesture. Then, all were seated, and the only people still standing were our guides, who seemed to be king and queen, of a sort.  
  
"We have decided" the woman started  
"To quit this mortal plane" the man continued  
"Our days have been secluded"  
"And our time has gone to fame"  
"We have found the ones to follow"  
"Two Men of earthly fame"  
"One with shell of green and inner gold"  
"One of quiet, story untold"  
"When the foretold time has come"  
"When the boy turns twenty-one"  
  
"Bound together by time and fate"  
  
"We wait for these two to change their state"  
"And we will teach them,"  
"All they need to know" It felt like part of a novel of quests and magic dragons and swords. I looked at Severus and watched his eyes smile into mine.  
  
/ / Severus \ \  
  
I woke up, and rubbed the back of my neck. I shouldn't have allowed myself to fall asleep on my office sofa. I had had a very good dream, and a part of me, deep down, somewhere in my deepest soul, something felt different, lighter, as if I had put down a burden that I did not know I was even carrying. I stretched, and found that none of my joints creaked, and I did not feel the signs of the premature arthritis that comes of living in the cool, damp dungeons. I felt years younger.  
  
I glanced at the ornate muggle-style grandfather clock in the corner of the room, and found that I still had time to shower and get up to the Great Hall on time for lunch. My nap had left me feeling refreshed and invigorated, things I did not often feel these days.  
  
I walked into my rooms, shedding robes as I went. I closed and locked the bathroom door, and took my shower. As I stepped out, I said a quiet charm to remove all of the steam from the room. Something about steam just scares me a little bit.  
  
I looked into my silent mirror (I didn't want to be critiqued or complimented by a semisentient mirror, so I bought an antique muggle one), and found that I looked younger. And healthier, for that matter. In fact, I looked positively more golden than I used to. I flicked through all of the events that had occurred in the past few days, and nothing indicated a sudden upturn in my health.  
  
**Harry**  
  
I woke up and stretched, feeling unaccountably good, even without considering my current circumstances. I glanced at my watch, and it read time to get ready for lunch. I got up, grabbing a fluffy towel as I walked into our private bathroom. I shed my robes and stepped into a hot shower.  
  
As soon as I finished washing my hair, I stepped out of the shower, and, grabbing my glasses, I looked into the mirror. I looked somewhat. paler, and it looked good. I decided that I would get an eye correction charm, and grown my hair out. I felt like I couldn't look the same and have my place so thoroughly changed.  
  
-----Hermionie-----  
  
I looked up as Harry walked into the hall. Something had changed in the way he walked, and he looked taller and more confident than I had ever seen him. He had happiness in his stride, and pride, and something further than that, that I couldn't identify.  
  
He sat down beside me at the table, and piled food onto his plate. "Hi, Hermionie!" Harry said, rather brightly. "Hey, Harry. How are you?"  
  
"I feel great, all of a sudden. It's rather nice."  
  
"Why didn't you show up to class this morning?"  
  
"I talked to Severus, and then I accidentally fell asleep in the dorm." Harry looked surprised even by his own answers.  
  
I looked closely at him. "Seveus?"  
  
"Oh, yeah, sorry, Professor Snape. It's a long story. Don't ask"  
  
/\/\ Draco /\/\  
  
I watched Potter walk past, and turned to my friends, Crabbe and Goyle. Their dads had died in the raid, too, and now they didn't act so lumberingly stupid, and they had also decided they didn't agree with Lord Voldemort. It seems that they would follow me to the bitter end.  
  
We decided we should play a prank on Potter and the mudblood. As soon as the Boy Who Was Interminably and Infinitely Annoying looked like he was getting to leave, we left the Great Hall and headed into my dorm room, planning to mess up Potter's things.  
  
-----Hermionie-----  
  
Harry suddenly sat up, and then relaxed again. He turned to me and said, "The proximity alarms on the wards I put up on my stuff have just gone off. I imagine somebody is trying to play a dirty prank on me. But the wards'll trap them. Do you think it's not too mean of me to let some of the dirty Slytherins sweat in a trap all afternoon?  
  
"I think it's okay, Harry. It's your things that are being threatened, after all."  
  
And with that, we walked off to our afternoon lessons.  
  
/\/\ Draco /\/\  
  
The three of us found ourselves trapped into something the idiot Potter had set up. It seemed so un-Gryffindor of him to have the forethought to set up traps for anyone playing pranks on his stuff.  
  
As we fought the invisible bonds that held us tightly, I told the other two boys to hold still instead. "We'll just have to wait for Potter. He has to come back here to sleep, eventually. We can wait until then and then sneak into the kitchens for some dinner.  
  
**Harry**  
  
My afternoon lessons went very quickly. In Charms, we were flicking Frisbees around the room with our magic. In Care of Magical Creatures, Hagrid brought out some very large snakes, who I had some very insightful conversations with, while everyone else stood back, except for Hagrid and Malfoy, who seemed to have something of an understanding with the snakes, although he can't talk to them.  
  
After dinner in the Great Hall, I found myself wandering back to my room, suddenly tired. I remembered the people that had tripped my alarms, and I hurried back to the dorms.  
  
I walked into the room that I shared with Malfoy, and found that he, Crabbe, and Goyle were trapped in my wards. I stared at them for a moment, before sitting on my bed, slowly taking my shoes off, while the three boys wondered when I would let them out.  
  
"I should keep you three there all night. It would teach you a lesson, not to touch my things." I noticed a wild, frightened look in Malfoy's eyes. "But I'll be nice, and let you three out. But know that each time that you try to get into my things, I'll leave you in the bonds for longer." I allowed the spell to release them, and sent them away to their own rooms.  
  
I got changed for bed, and lay down, drawing the curtains close around me.  
  
/ / Snape \ \  
  
I felt tired as I dragged myself up to Dumbledore's office. I spoke the password, quietly, and walked in, making myself comfortable in an armchair, while petting Fawkes. Dumbledore walked in at the same time as Minerva did, and she sat a few seats away from me, while Dumbledore seated himself behind his desk.  
  
I waited for Dumbledore to speak. Finally, he did. "I have a few favors to ask of you two. Minerva, I would like you to try to make sure that Ms. Granger's powers remain turned towards the good. And Severus, I would like you to keep an eye on Potter. Thank you, that is all"  
  
I left his office, and got down to my rooms as fast as I could, and lay down, falling asleep quickly 


	4. One Together, One Apart

A/N: Hey everyone, I've been working on this one for a few days, but I had a debate tournament, which I did okay in (my partner is really bad) and I won tenth place speaker in a pool of around 75 or so people. Yay! But anyway, that's why this one took me so long to post up. Oh, also, before I forget, thanks to everyone who reviewed!!!!  
  
Part Four: One Together, One Apart  
  
***  
Deeper into this abyss  
Weighted down and sinking fast  
Life did not offer me  
More than false destiny  
***  
  
/ / Severus \ \  
  
I waved a hand, and the lights in my bedroom dimmed, until I was lying in darkness so thick that it didn't matter whether my eyes were open or closed. Something about this kind of darkness was comforting in a way that nothing else was. I could let go, and I did, allowing myself to fall into sleep.  
  
I opened my eyes onto a beautiful garden. I was sitting next to Harry on a carved stone bench that seemed like it was hewn out of the path in front of us, without taking a different block of black marble. Above us, unfamiliar stars were twinkling down, and the moon was high in the sky, giving the gardens a beautiful, ethereal glow. Harry seemed to merge with this glow, and become it. He was of the moon. I looked down at myself and I glowed golden, healthy, with firm skin and hands that weren't potion-stained.  
  
Harry and I were content to simply look at each other, and at the rest of the world. Words were not necessary. In this time and place, a tiny motion could convey more than a thousand words. The sheer beauty overwhelmed me.  
  
Suddenly, the man and woman of the previous. what was it. dream? Visit? Day? Night? Whatever it was, they sat before us once again. I was struck by the beauty of the lady, and the pale glow of the man. I wondered what we were doing here, and it didn't seem to matter so much anyway. Then, the lady spoke, "Hello, my children."  
  
"Hello, madam," I replied.  
  
"We have brought the two of you here for many, many reasons, but, for the most part, because you both have the potential for many things within you. You both have the potential to become vampyres, the greatest among them. You have the potential for endlessness, the potential for leadership and eternity. You both have great power, courage, honor, and cunning."  
  
The man spoke now. "We are the leaders of the vampyre kind. Our race has the ability to leave this plane, for the next existence, when we feel we have spent enough time in this universe. We can move faster than any being in existence. We are shape-shifters, element-controllers, lore-masters, and sky-riders. We can talk to all of the organisms with enough brain to form coherent thoughts. We can talk to the living and the dead, and all of those in between, because we are not truly one or the other, although we live as if we are truly living. Legilimency is the descendant of one of our ancient magics. We are known by some as Angels, and we can sprout our wings and pull them back at will. We can kill, but we are not killers, and we cannot be killed."  
  
The lady spoke once more. "Will you accept our offer? Become one of us? The two of you have the potential to be the greatest leaders our kind has ever known."  
  
And suddenly, I knew my answer, as if fate had already known what was in store for me. I nodded solemnly, at the same time that Harry did.  
  
"Do you have any questions for us? Now that you have accepted, we can answer almost anything you will ask," the man said.  
  
I spoke up first. "What is the name of this world we are in?"  
  
"We call this place Verdana, and it is a place that only a little bit further away from your planet than the closest solar system to your Earth."  
  
Harry asked the next question. "Are there any descendants of your-no, our kind on the Earth, now?"  
  
"Why, yes, of course there are. Our people originated there. The ones you know as Vampires are the descendants of those who chose to stay on Earth, when we left, just after the first true Man evolved. Our time on that planet was over then, and so we had to leave."  
  
I asked again. "So how did Harry and I come to be your successors? What is special about us? And how did we get here?"  
  
The lady answered, this time. "The two of you are the last descendants of the last true vampyres on the planet Earth. Salazar Slytherin and Godric Gryffindor, to name them. You two are the first in a thousand thousand years that have shown up as trueblood vampyres. For some reason, you are truly one of us, and you possess the ability to live forever, and the right mind frame. We have been watching the Earth, and the two of you have continually escaped death, by a very narrow margin. You have the qualities to be leaders. So we chose you. As to how you got here, if someone else was to look in your bed right now, you would not be there. You have actually traveled here. That is the evidence of our travel speed. It is such that you do not even need to perform a charm to create air around you to survive the vacuum of space. You simply think yourself a place, or a speed, and you are there."  
  
"I only have a few more questions," Harry said "will we be forced to move to this place? Would we be able to stay on Earth?"  
  
The man nodded. "You have a while yet until your people need you. But until then, you can live as you would normally, and when you do need to lead, you can lead from your home, or you can come here, or you can even bring our people to your home planet, although that is probably and inadvisable course of action. Your people are no longer ready for ours."  
  
Harry spoke up once more, "so Severus and I can remain on Earth until Voldemort is destroyed?"  
  
The man and the woman nodded at the same time, and then turned to leave. My eyes closed, and I was helpless to stop it.  
  
**Harry**  
  
I opened my eyes into the green curtains of my bed. This time, I remembered my dream. I performed a charm to let me see the time. Ugh. Too early. 5:30 in the morning and I wasn't at all tired. I guess another one of the symptoms of vampyrism is a lessened need for sleep. Not that that was a bad thing.  
  
I got out of bed, and walked into the bathroom attached to the room. The lights slowly rose as I walked in, allowing my eyes to adjust. I locked the door with a flick of my wand and shed my clothes as I walked into the shower. I let the hot water run over me, counteracting the cool of the dungeons.  
  
I stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around my waist. I brushed my teeth and then looked into the mirror. I looked paler again, my hair contrasting with my body.  
  
I got dressed, all in black, and walked out of the Slytherin dorms, headed towards Severus' office. I knew he would be awake, just as I was.  
  
/ / Severus \ \  
  
A knock dragged me out of my reverie. I put together the last two hooks of my robes and opened the door. It was Harry. "You remember the dream, too, I take it?"  
  
He nodded. "Yeah. What do you think it means, that we're turning into vampyres?"  
  
"I really don't know. I think that it means that we will end up immensely powerful. And that we should not tell Dumbledore unless we absolutely have to."  
  
Just then, Albus' head popped into my fireplace. "Severus, the wards on Harry's house are down, and his relatives are dead. I need you to get him and floo to my office immediately."  
  
"I have him right here," I replied, "we'll come up to your office now, if you would please move out of the way." I motioned to Harry that he should go first, and followed quickly behind.  
  
Dumbledore was patting Harry's back as I walked out of the fireplace, and Harry stood there not looking sad at all, but a little bit relieved. I didn't blame him. If he had even told us the half of it, he was treated very badly there. Instead, he just looked awkward at Dumbledore's unnecessary comforting.  
  
Dumbledore then motioned for us to take seats, and he sat behind his desk. I took the seat to Harry's right, and Dumbledore started to speak. "For some reason, the wards on Harry's house failed. There were Death Eaters posted there, waiting for the chance to kill his relatives and end his protection. And that's exactly what they did. Do you two have any ideas about why this might have happened?"  
  
I looked at Harry just as he looked at me. He saw the question in my eyes and nodded. I could tell Dumbledore what had happened. "We have something to tell you," I said quietly, "but if you interrupt, we will stop talking to you and leave this office immediately. And after that, I need you to let Harry and I talk through this on our own today. Seeing as it's the last day before the Easter holidays, I think that we can afford to miss the school day."  
  
***** the lyrics at the top of the page belong to Fear Factory, the song is called Descent. 


	5. Subtle Surrender

Part Five: Subtle Surrender  
  
**Harry**  
  
A strange sense of knowledge suffused my brain. I motioned for Severus to stop talking, and stood up. I turned towards the desk and began to speak quietly, but I seemed to take over the room. "What strange things befall us, children of the moon. We roam the darkness safely, daughters of the night, and we walk the day, brothers of the sun. We are older than the oldest gods, and we can live forever. We are wellsprings of magic. We have traveled the universe, from one end to another. We can tell you the truths behind the oldest of the myths and legends. We can converse with the animals, the humans, and the gods, speak and understand the language of any creature, known and unknown, living and extinct. We can raise the dead and kill the living. We are vampyre."  
  
Then, just as suddenly, Severus joined in. "We are the oldest and the wisest, and we can teach you many things. Our people lived here ere the dawn of time. We are people of the morning, and children of the night. No one can kill us. We are vampyre."  
  
Harry again, "We are students of the universe, and we can travel great distances to do many things. We learned how to speak in the dawning, fly in the noontime, and learn in the twilight. We learned magic at the moonrise, and travel in the midnight. We learned to master the elements at the moonset. We were the first of the thinking beings, and we will be the last."  
  
Severus spoke again, as if replying. "When there is nothing else in the universe, we will be the last to leave, sweeping up and locking the door behind us as we go."  
  
A powerful wave of ancient magic washed through the room, and rushed away, before returning and pouring into the two men standing. Their eyes grew wide at the well of sheer power they felt within them and within each other. A beautiful woman's voice filled the room, and it was at once a sound, a taste, a feeling, a vision, and a memory. It was not of humanity, but of the vampyre kind, as all three of the men in the room knew. "You have done well, my children. You have accepted within your heart of hearts and soul of souls. Things will be faster and easier from here. For both of you"  
  
The two men left the room, leaving a bewildered Dumbledore behind. 


	6. Final Days, Of A Sort

Author's Note: I got kind of sick of Seventh Year, so this chapter rushes through it a bit. I could use some reviews, if you please. The story is kind of taking me along for the ride, but I need to know where to guide it. Also, if there's anything that needs clarification, note it for me and I'll try to fin it. Disclaimer: I don't own 'em. well, the vampyre are mine. But anyway, it's not mine.  
  
Part Six: Final Days, Of A Sort  
  
**Harry**  
  
I had a message from Severus as soon as Draco and I arrived back at the school, three days before the term was due to start again. I walked to the dormitory and put my trunk down, and then headed off to Severus' lab.  
  
/ / Severus \ \  
  
Harry came into the room and I motioned for him to sit down while I finished up the potion I was working on. As I finished it, I wiped my hands on a towel hanging next to the potions bench, and walked towards him, saying, "I trust that your stay with the Malfoys was good?"  
  
He nodded. "Yes, it was fine. Narcissa is very nice. Draco is still trying to play pranks on me. I don't think that he realizes that it won't ever work. Between Dudley and Sirius and the Weasley twins," he looked sad at this mention of his ex-best friend's family, "I'm fairly immune to being pranked. Boy, have I got it in for him. Just you wait."  
  
"Well, if I were you, I wouldn't be too hard on him. He is far less. adult then you are. Nothing truly strange or painful has ever happened to him. As much as he would wish otherwise, the boy is still an innocent. And ifhe ends up having to come to me for any sort of healing potions, I will flay you alive," I replied, "But did anything else happen?"  
  
Harry looked down, something between ashamed and penitent radiating from him, "I sent a letter to Ron." He spat the name out with such hate, and I wondered what had happened. "He wrote back. His letter, boiled down said that I was a backstabbing turncoat traitor, that I had gone to the Dark side, and that he hated me."  
  
I wondered how I should go about comforting him. I walked over to his chair and rested a hand on his forearm. "I believe that young Mr. Weasley does not deserve your friendship. The boy- and I say boy, not man, because he has not grown up yet- the boy is a complete idiot. If he so much as thinks that you have gone to join the ranks of Voldemort, he has another think coming."  
  
"I know," he replied; head still down, speaking quietly, "he sees the world in black and white. I just. I don't know what to do. No one in my own house trusts me, and I have hardly any time to talk to my old friends- well, the ones who're still talking to me," he shook his head and laughed bitterly. It was an old man's laugh, and Harry was far too young, even with his lost innocence, and it was not a sound that should have come from one so young.  
  
It was almost tragic. We turned, instead, to the solace of potion-brewing. Madam Pomfrey's stocks will be replenished, certainly.  
  
/\/\ Draco /\/\  
  
The rest of Seventh Year passed by in a flurry of preparation for the NEWTS. Greg, Vince, and I tried to play pranks on Harry. It didn't work. He threw himself into his studies. I would be surprised if he didn't outscore that infuriating Granger girl.  
  
**Harry**  
  
Graduation Day, finally. It was strikingly similar to our Sorting ceremony, bringing us around, full circle. I talked to Dean, Seamus, and Neville, until we lined up behind Professor McGonagall. As we walked through the door, our robes were magically altered to whatever reflected best our personality, family, and House. Ron's were red and gold, embroidered with Celtic knotwork. Hermionie's, on the other hand, were as deep a blue as the night sky, cut rather fashionably. Mine were almost surprising. As I stepped through the door, my robes turned into a deep green-black set, made of a rich fabric that I had never felt before. Along the hems were picked out silver snakes, slithering around the edges. They were different from everyone else's in style, too. The robes were high- necked and they buttoned to the top, with a snug fit against my body. I found that I also had on black dragonhide boots, and a small band of silver around my forehead, holding down my suddenly-long hair. My wrists were adorned with silver and black bands fashioned into snakes biting their own tails. Around my neck rested a silver chain that held a key and two rings.  
  
I caught sight of myself in a darkened window as I passed into the Great Hall, after dinner. I looked. regal, in a way. Older, too, and still paler. It was strange, for me, to have long, and manageable hair. I liked it.  
  
One by one, the graduating students walked up to the platform behind the high table, and put on the Sorting Hat. As my turn came, I headed up and sat carefully, putting the hat on my head as I did so. As soon as I did, I heard its voice in my head.  
  
"Well, young Harry, we meet again." It said  
  
"Yeah. How are you?" I asked.  
  
"You've come a long way in your seven years here. Gryffindor and Slytherin, your true heritage, and facing up to Voldemort. You have come into your inheritance; that is what the robes signify. I commend you, Harry, and I apologize for Ron Weasley. He is yet a child."  
  
"I know. Thank you."  
  
"Salazar would be proud of you, boy. You've made something of yourself. I leave you with just a few things. First, I would appreciate it (and I will inform Dumbledore of this) if you would come and talk to me every so often. Through me, you can hear your forefather Salazar's opinions and advice on you. And also, when you get back to your dorm tonight, I would advise you to look in your robe's inner pocket, once you are alone. Now go, go and see Dumbledore. He will give you your NEWT scores and your rank in the class, on the NEWTS and in general, and your diploma, and any job offers you may have so far. Go!"  
  
I stood up and put the Hat down on the chair, and walked across the platform towards Headmaster Dumbledore. I shook his hand, and he passed me a thick scroll. "Congratulations, Harry. Good luck in life and in love."  
  
I smiled and nodded at him. "Thank you, sir." I walked off and sat in my seat.  
  
/ / Severus \ \  
  
I watched Harry walk into the Hall. His robes were magnificent. And they looked very good. The Hat spoke to every departing student, and I wondered what it was telling Harry. Once the feast was over and I had congratulated Harry and Draco, I escaped to my rooms, and went to sleep.  
  
--Hermionie--  
  
I sat down at my seat and settled in for the rest of the Graduation Ceremony. I looked across the line of people coming in and I spotted Harry. He looked positively. regal. With the bands around his forehead and wrists, dark hair, and fancy robes, he looked like some sort of king out of The Lord of the Rings or some fairy tale. I put my hand on the seat between myself and Seamus, who was holding a seat across the table from us for Dean, next to Neville.  
  
**Harry**  
  
I took heed of the Sorting Hat's words, and, although I enjoyed the Feast, I managed to get back to my dorm completely sober. at approximately midnight. As I walked into my room (I had been moved out of the shared dorm just after the Easter holidays), I muttered the spell to bring up my wards and locked the door, both magically and in the Muggle way. I reached into my robe as the lights came on and the fireplace was suddenly filled with flames. I placed the scroll with my scores onto the desk- I was second only to Hermionie in every subject except DADA, where I placed first. The whole having completely different schedules from my friends for the whole end of the year thing really boosted the time I put into studying. The House Cup was a tie between Gryffindor and Slytherin this year.  
  
I pulled a large, heavy envelope out of my robe. I put it down on the bed and pulled my shoes off, curling up on the bed, making sure I wasn't wrinkling my robe. I pulled the first sheet of paper out of the envelope. It was a birth certificate; mine, with the name Harold James Slytherin instead of the Harry James Potter that had been my full name for my entire life. The next sheet was two different Gringotts accounts, one of the Potter family fortunes, and another of the Slytherin family, followed by two keys, one to each vault.  
  
The last sheet was instructions on how to get to the Slytherin Family manor- called Rookwood, and through its complicated wards. I threw all of my things into my trunk, and ran off to say goodbye to Severus and ask permission of Headmaster Dumbledore to leave immediately.  
  
**** End Chapter  
  
Review Replies, for the whole story so far:  
  
Prophetess of Hearts: yay! *giggles* Malfoy in school still sucks. But I have other plans for him...  
  
Neverever: thanks! I've obviously updated, and I know where my next few chapters are going. you're gonna like 'em, I hope!  
  
Luna The Moonmaster: oops, I can't believe I didn't catch that one! Thanks!  
  
Mikee: Yep, I'm updating, like I said before, and the relationship between Harry and Sev will actually *happen* soon..  
  
Kailsi: do the names above every change help at all?  
  
Athenakitty: not to be rude, but are you understanding the story at all? 


	7. Once and Again

A/N: I've added a new POV to this chapter to get a few details across, and mostly because I needed a third person POV- I was sick of writing in all first person. So, at any rate, this took longer to get up because I had a debate tournament (I did really well!!!) and I didn't have too much time. Also, the narrator POV is represented by this: ~~~~~  
  
Part Seven  
  
~~~~  
  
In the next few years, Harry severed all ties with everybody, citing his need to "be alone" for a time. The wizarding world believed that Harry was under the Fidelius charm, with Dumbledore as his secret-keeper. In reality, however, it was Severus Snape who knew the only way to contact him. Finally, in the summer that he turned 21, Dumbledore asked that he allow Severus to come visit him.  
  
**Harry**  
  
I didn't know exactly what day Severus was going to get here, so I decided to get ready for work. I was a "punisher", a dom for an underground club. Everyone who asked me in the daylight hours what I did for a living thought I worked nights in a bar. Of course, most of the building was filled with my friends and coworkers, so it was fine. I didn't have any nosy neighbors spying on my routines.  
  
I got out a pair of leather pants, a long black leather jacket, and a long riding crop to hang down my belt. I tied back my shoulder-length, black hair, and finished the outfit with black eyeliner. Just as I finished, the doorbell rang, and I went to open it, figuring that it was my friend, Mark. Instead, I found Severus.  
  
/ / Severus \ \  
  
He opened the door and I was. speechless. He had grown into his pale, good looks. The long hair fit him, and the outfit. I never realized someone could look that good in leather. I very literally looked him up and down before I realized that he was staring at me, also. As soon as we both realized, however, he stood aside and held the door open for me to walk into his flat.  
  
"Harry." I said, with a nod.  
  
"Severus." He replied. "Do you need to put any of your things down? I can transfigure you up some curtains to make a separate 'room', if you wish." He had a top-floor loft apartment, with large windows, and another section off to the left, that cupped the hall entry, which I assumed held his bedroom and bath.  
  
"That would be very nice of you. Thanks." As I looked around the apartment, Harry turned and transfigured up a large bed in the corner and a set of curtains to partition it off from the rest of the apartment. "Now, may I ask, what are you doing dressed up like that?"  
  
Harry looked awkward. "It's my job. I can't explain, but I can show you. If you like. The boss doesn't mind if we bring friends to watch, but they have to be dressed right. So, if you want to know, you'll have to come over to my friend Mark's apartment and you can borrow some of his clothes. They should fit you about right."  
  
I nodded and followed him out of the apartment.  
  
**Harry**  
  
I knocked on Mark's door just down the hall, and I heard his answering yell, and we walked in. Mark walked into the main room already dressed. He was neutral, neither dom nor sub, but he was the bartender. He used to be a dom, like me, and showed me the ropes. "Hey, Mark, this is my friend Severus Snape, from my school in England. I wanted to bring him in tonight, to watch. Could he borrow some of your old clothes tonight?"  
  
"Sure, man, I think mine'll fit him just about right. Follow me." I motioned to Severus to follow us into his bedroom, and we went to the closet. Mark picked a bundle of clothes and handed them to Severus, and pointed him towards the bathroom. "Go in there to change. If you can't figure out how to put something on, leave it off and we'll tell you when you come out."  
  
As Severus walked away, he began to ask me questions. "How do you know him?"  
  
"He was one of my professors back at school. In my final year, about halfway through it, I was transferred to another House, like a dormitory or a fraternity, and he was my Head, and my friend, when I had no one there to turn to."  
  
"I thought you had a clean break with your past. Didn't you say that before?"  
  
"Yeah, I did. Severus was the only one who knew how to reach me, and only in case of an alarming, horrifying, awful eventuality. It seems that the time has come. I presume, however, that he has come under the guise of asking me to take a particular teaching position that has never held anyone for more than a year or so."  
  
"What position?"  
  
"Personal Defense. Teachers never seem to do well in it, but it was by far my best subject."  
  
"Oh. There's the door. I think your friend is coming out now."  
  
I turned around to look at Severus, and I decided that he looked good in black leather. He held a fishnet top in his hands, trying to figure it out. I sighed and shook my head, and started to walk over to him, as I said, "here, let me do it." I took the top out of his hands, and deftly wrapped it around his body properly, and then took black eyeliner from my pocket, and smudged it on his eyes expertly. In the background, Mark wolf- whistled, and we set off for the club. 


End file.
